Spain raced into a 2-0 lead when Diego Costa stabbed past Sergio Romero before Isco side-footed his first goal.

Argentina, without injured forward Lionel Messi, pulled it back to 2-1 through Nicolas Otamendi’s header.

Isco and Thiago Alcantara extended the lead to 4-1, with substitute Iago Aspas adding the fifth before Isco completed his hat-trick.

Razor-sharp Spain look real threat

Spain, the 2010 World Cup winners, are now unbeaten in 18 games since Julen Lopetegui took charge following their exit at the first knockout stage of Euro 2016.

They have two more friendlies, against Switzerland and Tunisia, before they launch their World Cup group campaign against European champions Portugal on 15 June.

Lopetegui’s side look a major threat on this evidence as they scored with all six shots on target.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who supported the recent Catalan independence referendum, ignored jeers each time he touched the ball in Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano to produce a solid performance at the back.

Andres Iniesta was outstanding in midfield, Isco showed his threat in front of goal as he became the first player since 2013 to score a hat-trick for Spain, and Aspas also did enough to suggest he should make the plane to Russia.

Problems pile up for Argentina

Argentina only secured a place at the World Cup on the final day of South American qualifying, a Messi hat-trick against Ecuador ensuring his country avoided missing a finals for the first time since 1970.

Messi watched this humiliating defeat from the stand as he sat out his second game inside a week after receiving treatment for a muscle injury.

Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli has work to do to sort out a defence that was cut apart time and again in Spain’s capital.

The two-time world champions were vulnerable to counter-attacks, and Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero, a replacement for Manchester United’s Romero who was hurt trying to stop Costa’s goal, failed to inspire on his second appearance for his country.

Gonzalo Higuain was disappointing in front of goal as Otamendi proved Argentina’s biggest threat from set-pieces.

Argentina were also fortunate to finish with 11 men on the pitch as tempers boiled over near the end, prompting Premier League referee Anthony Taylor to blow the whistle on 90 minutes without any time added on.

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Source: BBC

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Head coach of the team Kwesi Appiah is set to hand opportunities to a number of new invitees when the Black Stars take on the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia in an international friendly to be played on the outskirts of Jeddah.

The Green Falcons are set to return to the World Cup themselves after an eleven-year absence.

Striker John Antwi is expected to make his cameo along with the likes of Accra Hearts of Oak’s Vincent Atingah.

“Despite missing the global competition coach Appiah will now focus on getting a strong squad together for the Afcon.

“A number of the new faces like Kassim Nuhu and Lawrence Ati-Zigi could all get the chance to impress,”GFA spokesperson Ibrahim Saani Daara revealed ahead of the big game.

The Saudi Arabians are expected to parade a strong squad for the match which will kick off at 5:15 pm Ghanaian time.

By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Researchers in Prague fed two groups of 27 people the same calorie diet spread over two or six meals a day.

They found volunteers who ate two meals a day lost more weight than those who ate six, and their blood sugar dropped.

Experts said the study supported “existing evidence” that fewer, larger meals were the way forward.

Timing important?

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough of the hormone insulin, which controls the amount of sugar in the blood, meaning blood sugar levels become too high.

If untreated, it can lead to heart disease and stroke, nerve damage, light-sensitive eyes and kidney disease.

About 2.9 million people in the UK are affected by diabetes, 90% of whom have the type 2 form of the disease.

Current advice in the UK recommends three meals a day, with healthy snacks.

Scientists at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague divided a group of 54 volunteers aged 30 to 70 with type 2 diabetes into two groups of 27 people.

Volunteers were then given either a six-meal-a-day diet (A6) for 12 weeks followed by a two-meal day diet (B2), or vice versa.

The study compared two meals with six meals – as the latter accorded with current practice advice in the Czech Republic, researchers said.

Each diet contained on average 1,700 calories a day.

‘Very pleasing’ result

The B2 group ate between 06:00 and 10:00 and then between 12:00 and 16:00, and the A6 group ate their food throughout the day.

Weight loss for the B2 group averaged 1.4kg (3lb) more than A6, and they lost about 4cm (1.5in) more from their waistlines.

Lead scientist Dr Hana Kahleova, at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, said the results were “very pleasing”.

She said: “The patients were really afraid they would get hungry in the evening but feelings of hunger were lower as the patients ate until they were satisfied.

“But when they ate six times a day the meals were not leaving them feeling satisfied. It was quite surprising.”

‘Larger studies needed’

Dr Kahleova said the study could apply to people without diabetes who were trying to lose weight.

Dr Richard Elliott, research communications officer at Diabetes UK, said the study added to evidence that eating fewer, larger meals a day could be more effective than smaller, frequent meals at helping people manage their condition.

He added: “However, larger studies over longer periods of time will be needed to back up these findings before we would make changes to the dietary advice given to people with type 2 diabetes.”

Dr Elliot said eating a healthy, balanced diet, being active and maintaining a healthy weight, alongside taking any medication was “vital” to effectively manage the condition.

Source: BBC

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